9781422287866 Building a Healthy Diet with the 5 Food Groups

39 Fast Foods, Snacks, and the 5 Food Groups

It’s okay to snack throughout the day. It might even help to keep you from eating meals that are too big! But make sure you’re snacking on healthy foods instead of junk foods.

If you choose to eat fast food with more food groups, you’re taking a step in the right di- rection with your health. You’ll start to feel better and have more energy. You’ll also thank yourself later in life, when you’re still fit and healthy from that balanced diet! SNACKING BETTER Snacks are a great way to eat some of the food groups you’re missing from the rest of your meals during the day. You may not eat much fruit for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. But you can always add in some fruit for a snack between meals. Snacks also keep your energy up during the day. As long as you don’t eat too much for a snack, they’re great ways to get you from meal to meal. Not all snacks are equal, though. Many snacks are unhealthy and aren’t worth eating. They just add empty calories to your day, along with lots of fat, sugar, and salt. Cookies, chips, and candy are not good choices for snacks. None of those snacks really belong to any food group — they’re just junk. Snacks don’t have to be just about chips and cookies, though. You can make and eat tasty, healthy snacks too! You’ll find you don’t even miss those junk snacks. Try to eat snacks that have more than one food group. Be creative and add two or more food groups together. Make a smoothie with fruit and milk or 100 percent juice. Add any kind of fruit you like, such as bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and mango. Add in some yogurt for extra dairy, or peanut butter for some protein.